Minimally invasive surgical procedures are now often favoured over “open” or conventional surgery due to a lower post-operative morbidity, shorter post-operative stay, less pain, decreased cost and quicker recovery period.
While often favoured for the above reasons, conventional open surgery does have the advantage that the surgeon is presented with a three-dimensional environment to which their eyes are accustomed in everyday living. Further, when the surgeon manipulates the operative instruments, there is a direct visual response to the actions performed by their hands.
In endoscopic procedures, such as a laparoscopic procedure, the operative field is instead perceived as a magnified two-dimensional image seen by way of a video camera and television screen. The result is a disassociation between the surgeon's hand movements and the end result of those movements as visualised on the television screen. This occurs because the surgeon's eyes cannot focus on the spatial orientation of their hands in relation to the actual operative task.
A further significant difference is that the operative field, as viewed in an endoscopic procedure, lacks any depth perception. This adds to the surgeon's difficulty in appropriately positioning the instruments. It, in effect, necessitates the surgeon to retrain his or her eyes to estimate the actual distance between the structures being manipulated.
Surgeons typically require a significant period of training to develop the new set of fine coordinated movements required to perform complicated endoscopic procedures, such as suturing and knot tying. This training typically involves use of relatively expensive and non-portable video and television equipment that provides an image of an operation area being practised upon by the surgeon.
The present invention provides an alternative training device for surgeons to learn and practise endoscopic surgical techniques.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention before the priority date of each claim of this application.